Safer Cities: Her Way

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Safer Cities: Her Way is a collaborative partnership project between Transport for NSW and Wollongong City Council to improve perceptions of safety for women, girls and gender diverse people when travelling to, through and within public spaces and transport hubs.

The project is trialling how to make public spaces feel safer through pilot projects.

We have focused on the three identified areas:

  • Wollongong CBD
  • Port Kembla Town Centre
  • Dapto Town Centre.

What we have done so far:

  • Community mapping - the community were asked to drop pins on the maps to show where they felt unsafe and what makes a location feel that way. The maps helped us focus our interventions on specific routes or locations that had a higher number of issues.
  • Day and night walks – community members walked a route at each area joining Council and NSW Police to identify safety issues and discuss ideas to improve public space and perceived safety.
  • Co-design workshop – community members participated in a workshop to develop potential trial interventions to address safety issues.
  • Develop project plan – we developed a project plan and submitted it to Transport for NSW. It listed trial interventions proposed for each area based on the work of community members, Council and NSW Police. Approval to implement the plan was given.

Read the FAQs for more information about the mapping, walks and workshops.

What’s next?

  • Trial interventions will be implemented from November 2023 to June 2024. See maps for the works planned here. Events at MacCabe Park and Dapto Square have commenced including free cinema.
  • We’ll measure and evaluate before, during and after the trial to understand whether the interventions improve perceptions of safety.
  • We’ll have a community celebration at each location.

Find out more

If you have a question, you can:

Accessibility or language assistance

If you’re d/Deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech or language difficulty, you can contact us through the National Relay Service. If you need an interpreter, you can contact us through the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450. You’ll need to provide our phone number 02 4227 7111 for either service.



Safer Cities: Her Way is a collaborative partnership project between Transport for NSW and Wollongong City Council to improve perceptions of safety for women, girls and gender diverse people when travelling to, through and within public spaces and transport hubs.

The project is trialling how to make public spaces feel safer through pilot projects.

We have focused on the three identified areas:

  • Wollongong CBD
  • Port Kembla Town Centre
  • Dapto Town Centre.

What we have done so far:

  • Community mapping - the community were asked to drop pins on the maps to show where they felt unsafe and what makes a location feel that way. The maps helped us focus our interventions on specific routes or locations that had a higher number of issues.
  • Day and night walks – community members walked a route at each area joining Council and NSW Police to identify safety issues and discuss ideas to improve public space and perceived safety.
  • Co-design workshop – community members participated in a workshop to develop potential trial interventions to address safety issues.
  • Develop project plan – we developed a project plan and submitted it to Transport for NSW. It listed trial interventions proposed for each area based on the work of community members, Council and NSW Police. Approval to implement the plan was given.

Read the FAQs for more information about the mapping, walks and workshops.

What’s next?

  • Trial interventions will be implemented from November 2023 to June 2024. See maps for the works planned here. Events at MacCabe Park and Dapto Square have commenced including free cinema.
  • We’ll measure and evaluate before, during and after the trial to understand whether the interventions improve perceptions of safety.
  • We’ll have a community celebration at each location.

Find out more

If you have a question, you can:

Accessibility or language assistance

If you’re d/Deaf, hard of hearing or have a speech or language difficulty, you can contact us through the National Relay Service. If you need an interpreter, you can contact us through the Translating and Interpreting Service on 131 450. You’ll need to provide our phone number 02 4227 7111 for either service.



  • Free movies, music and exercise class

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    Our program of free events is continuing at MacCabe Park and Dapto Square until April.

    MACCABE PARK

    Exercise in the Park – Join trainers from Beaton Park for free- low-impact outdoor exercise classes for women. Every Tuesday 9.30am until 30 April 2024. We will also add afternoon classes during March from 5.30 to 6.30pm.

    Picnic in the Park - Come along to connect with friends, make art, play games and share food at this free event for young people aged 12 to 24. Every Thursday evening from 11 January to 18 April (excluding public holidays)

    Cinema in the Park - Join us in MacCabe Park on the third Saturday of the month at 8 pm until 20 April 2024 (excluding public holidays). Coming up Little Miss Sunshine is on 17 February and Pitch Perfect on 16 March. Barbie is on 20 April.


    DAPTO SQUARE

    Sounds in the Square - Join us at Dapto Square every Friday evening to 19 April 2024 (excluding public holidays). Free food and local music performers.

    Cinema in the Square - Join us in Dapto Square on the third Friday of the month at 8 pm from 19 January to 19 April 2024 (excluding public holidays) for a free movie under the stars. Bring your own cushion, or comfy camp chair. Coming up Barbie is on Friday 16 February, and Bran Nue Dae on 15 March. Maleficent is on April 23.


    For more information see our Events page.


  • Events are underway

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    A series of events are now underway, read on for more details:

    MACCABE PARK, WOLLONGONG

    Exercise in the Park – Join trainers from Beaton Park for free- low-impact outdoor exercise classes for women. Every Tuesday 9.30am until 30 April 2024

    Exercise class in the park

    Picnic in the Park - Come along to connect with friends, make art, play games and share food at this free event for young people aged 12 to 24. Every Thursday evening from 11 January to 18 April (excluding public holidays)

    Cinema in the Park - Join us in MacCabe Park on the third Saturday of the month at 8.30pm until 20 April 2024 (excluding public holidays).


    DAPTO SQUARE, DAPTO

    Sounds in the Square - Join us at Dapto Square every Friday evening from 12 January to 19 April 2024 (excluding public holidays). Free food and local music performers.

    Cinema in the Square - Join us in Dapto Square on the third Friday of the month at 8.30pm from 19 January to 19 April 2024 (excluding public holidays) for a free movie under the stars. Bring your own cushion, or comfy camp chair

    Call out for musicians and performers! We're also really keen to hear from local musicians, singers and instrumentalist to be part of Sounds in the Square at Dapto.

    All levels of experience are welcome - please fill in our expression of interest form to apply.

    You can see all the related events and learn more about the project here.

  • See the plans for each space

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    You can view plans of the works we will be doing at Dapto, Port Kembla and MacCabe Park in Wollongong here.

    Free activities at Dapto and MacCabe Park will commence in the next month or so, and we'll promote them on our social media and other channels.

    MacCabe Park - there will be exercise classes, a picnic for young people, and an outdoor cinema.

    Dapto Square - there will be music gigs, an outdoor cinema and a food van.

  • Community Survey Underway

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    How do these public spaces feel before and after our interventions?

    To see how well the interventions work we are doing a community survey before and after the trials to measure the quality of each public space.

    Fill in the survey while you are visiting each space and go in the draw to win 1 of 5 x $50 gift cards.

    The survey closes on 12 November.

    Take the survey here

  • Trial interventions to go ahead

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    The project plan we submitted to Transport for NSW was approved and it is now full steam ahead to get interventions delivered at Port Kembla, Dapto and Wollongong by June 2024.

    The trial interventions that were proposed by community participants and were approved include:

    • Lighting – Improved street lighting, gender-sensitive lighting and light installations.
    • Landscaping – Maintaining landscaping to create welcoming public spaces with clear visibility and less obscured areas.
    • Activation – Provide community activities and events to encourage people to use the public space properly which will reduce crime and provide safe activities for women, girls, and gender diverse people.
    • Maintenance – Upkeep and appearance of public spaces to create a pleasant and inviting public space for women and the community.
    • Infrastructure – Providing physical infrastructure that can address the specific needs of women, ensuring safety, ease of movement and inclusivity.

    You can read a full update here.

  • Co-design walks and workshop held

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    Walks

    The information we gathered from the online community mapping activity helped us focus the walks on the locations of most concern. A total of 228 pins were dropped on the maps by 92 people.

    During May we held night and day walks at Dapto, Port Kembla and Wollongong with women, girls and non-binary people from our community. We discussed safety issues experienced at locations along the walk route and began to think about what interventions could make these areas feel safer.

    We are working with the NSW Police on this project as they have valuable input to the planning of what we trial, but also in responding in their policing of areas where people feel less safe.

    Group of people standing on Crown StreetA day walk in Wollongong


    Co-design Workshop


    Community members then participated in a co-design workshop with Council staff to consider in more detail the interventions that could be trialed. Examples of interventions discussed were improved and new lighting, pruning of vegetation for better sightlines, activation of spaces via organised events, changed seating layouts, and painting areas to improve their look and feel.


    Council staff and community members in a workshop Sharing ideas at the co-design workshop

    Next Steps

    Council will now prepare a list of interventions to be rolled out in each location. A project plan will then be sent to our project partner, Transport for NSW for approval. We will be back to provide an update after we gain approval.

    Thank you for your participation in Safer Cities: Her Way and sharing your concerns and ideas to help create safer places. The information shared by our community has raised awareness of issues which need to be addressed by various agencies and will also inform future plans beyond this project.

Page last updated: 06 Feb 2024, 02:19 PM